Q. Dyson Heydon, the head of the Royal Commission into trade unions has ruled that he will continue as the head of the Royal Commission after being accused of bias for agreeing to appear at a Liberal Party fund-raiser. Do you think Dyson Heydon should continue as Royal Commissioner or should he stand down?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Should continue | 32% | 14% | 62% | 17% | 23% | |
| Should stand down | 42% | 64% | 16% | 66% | 50% | |
| Don’t know | 27% | 22% | 22% | 17% | 27% |
The largest proportion of Australian’s believes that Dyson Heydon should stand down (42%), however 32% think he should continue. 27% can give no opinion.
Amongst Liberal/National voters the majority (62%) think he should continue, while amongst Labor (64%), Greens (66%) and Other voters (50%) the majority think he should stand down.
Note: by way of comparison the question below was published in the Essential Report on the 25th August 2015.
Q. Reports that the Trade Union Royal Commissioner, Dyson Heydon, had accepted an invitation to speak at Liberal Party event has led to allegations of conflict of interest. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| There is a conflict of interest and he should step down as Royal Commissioner | 38% | 56% | 18% | 55% | 45% | |
| There is no conflict of interest and he should continue as Royal Commissioner | 25% | 9% | 50% | 6% | 21% | |
| Don’t know | 37% | 35% | 32% | 39% | 34% |